Brush rest



March 17, 1953 N. F. WAISANEN BRUSH REST Filed Oct. 2, 1950 F ig. 4

Inventor WWW l? Patented Mar. 17, `1953 UNITED STATES GFFICE 4 Claims;

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in free hand drawing or painting aids, and more especially pertains to a device whereby curved lines may be easily drawn.

The primary object of this invention is to steady the artists hand and to tend to guide, while supporting, a brush in an arcuate path over the surface of the work, such arc having a radius of curvature at the will of the artist, whereby continuous lines may be drawn of constant or smoothly changing curvatures.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a device whereby an artist may draw exceedingly ne lines that are curved with a brush, as is frequently required in the retouching of photographs and in mechanical illustration work.

Yet another important object of this invention is to provide a device which will permit the brush to be projected toward and moved from the surface of the work while realizing the objects set forth in the preceding paragraphs.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a device of this character,

' which will be exceedingly simple and inexpensive in manufacture, and which will be highly efficient and durable for the purposes intended.

A meritorious feature of the present invention resides in the structure being such that the same may be formed from a single length of wire.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in the open construction of the cradle whereby the artist may shift the brush toward and away from the work by his thumb while drawing a line.

A nnal important feature to be specifically enumerated herein resides in the roller having a plane of rotation slightly inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cradle whereby the curvature of the lines may be more easily controlled.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present invention showing the same in use, and with the artists hand shown in dotted outline;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of one end of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the vertical plane of the section line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is another transverse sectional view, this view being taken on the plane of the section line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Reference is now made more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, and in which the device forming the subject matter of this invention is' designated generally at I.

The device Il) is formed almost entirely from a single length of wire that is bent intermediate its ends to form a pair of parallel, spaced legs I2 and Ill connected by a U-shaped web portion It. As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the leg I4 adjacent its end remote from the web portion It is bent upwardly and outwardly at I8 and terminates in a depending, transversely extending U-shaped portion 20 that is terminally secured at 22 in any suitable manner, such as by spot welding, crimping around, or the like to the leg I2.

The legs I2 and I4 adjacent the web portion I6 are each crimped upwardly, as at 24, in such a manner that the web portion IS is disposed slightly below the plane of the legs I2 and I4. As thus far described, the legs I2 and I4 together with theportions I6 and 2l) constitute a cradle for a brush 26 that is slidably supported thereby. It will be noted that the crimped portion 24 of the legs i2 and I4 tends to retain the brush 23 between the legs I2 and I4' while the portions I6 and 2li slidably support the brush 2B at spaced positions. It should be further noted that the portions IB and 20 extend below the plane of the legs I2 and I4 to such a limited extent that the upper surface of the brush 26 projects above lrthe plane of the legs I2 and I4, so that when the device I0 is held in the artists hand 28 in the manner shown in Figure 1, the brush 2E may be shifted longitudinally by the thumb of the artist.

The leg I2 projects beyond the leg I4, and it iS offset, as at 3l), in a direction away from the leg I4 to constitute ya cradle supporting arm 32. The extremity of the arm 32 is bent at nearly a right angle back toward the leg I4 to constitute an axle 34 for a roller 36 having a rubber rim 38. As best shown in Figure 2, the axle 34 does not project from the arm 32 in the same plane aS the legs I2 and I4, but rather is inclined slightly upwardly with respect to the plane dened by the legs I2 and I4 so that the bottom of the roller 36 will be more closely spaced tothe tip 40 of the brush 26 than the axle 34. The inclination of the axle 34 positions the roller 36 so that the latter is least likely to become smeared with paint and, in addition, contributes materially to the ease with which the direction of movement of the device may be controlled by the artist.

The use of the invention will be readily understood upon consideration of Figure 1. The brush 26 is positioned in the cradle, and the cradle, together with the brush, is held in the hand in a manner similar to that in which a pencil is held so that the thumb may bear upon the brush 26 so that the latter may be longitudinally reciprocated in the cradle. The roller 36 is placed on the drawing so that the cradle, and consequently the brush, are partially supported thereby. The artist may then either draw straight lines or curved lines 42, the curvature of the latter being easily controlled by a, slight exing pressure of the artists wrist. It has been found in practice that curves simulating very closely the continuity and perfection of curvature as those produced by the most complex engraving machines may be achieved by the use of this device. It will also be appreciated that not only may the artist draw precise curves when using this device, but also that the width of such lines may be maintained constant or varied in width, depending on whether the artist holds the brush against longitudinal movement in the cradle or slidingly reciprocates the saine therein.

Since, from the foregoing, the construction and advantages of this invention are readily apparent, further description is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact embodiment shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A brush rest comprising a cradle formed from a single length of wire and including a pair of spaced, longitudinally extending parallel members and a pair of depending U-shaped elements connecting the opposite ends of the members for slidably supporting a brush between the members, and supporting means consisting of a longitudinally projecting arm at one end of the cradle, and a roller mounted on the outer end of the arm to rotate about an axis transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the cradle.

2. A brush rest comprising a cradle formed of .4, a single length of wire, said wire being bent intermediate its ends to define a pair of elongated parallel legs connected by a web portion, one of said legs terminating at its end remote from the web portion in a depending U-shaped portion terminally secured to the other leg, said other leg extending beyond the U-shaped portion and being provided with a cradle supported roller at its free end, said legs being crimped upwardly adjacent the web portion, whereby a brush malr be slidably supported on the web portion and the U-shaped portion between the legs of the cradle.

3. A brush rest comprising a cradle formed of a single length of wire, said wire being bent intermediate its ends to define a pair of elongated parallel legs connected by a web portion, one of said legs terminating at its end remote from the web portion in a depending U-shaped portion terminally secured to the other leg, said other leg extending beyond the U-shaped portion and being provided with a cradle supporting roller at its free end, said legs being crimped upvvardly adjacent the web portion, said web portion being bent downwardly below the plane of the legs. whereby a brush may be slidably supported on the web portion and the U-shaped portion between the legs of the cradle.

4. A brush rest comprising a cradle formed of a single length of wire, said wire being bent intermediate its ends to define a pair of elongated parallel legs lconnected by a web portion, one of said legs terminating at its end remote from the web portion in a depending U-shaped portion terminally secured to the other leg, said other leg extending beyond the U-shaped portion and being provided with a cradle supporting roller at its free end, said legs being bent adjacent to the web portion to dispose the web portion below the plane of the legs, whereby a brush may be slidably supported on the web portion and the U-shaped portion between the legs of the cradle.

NIILO F. WAISANEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this partent:

UNTED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 475,377 Atwood May 24, 1892 1,257,308 Boyle Feb. 26, 1918 1,927,191 Warner Sept. 19, 1933 2,126,311 Cowen Aug. 9, 1938 

